Francisco Lynch surveyed the overgrown frontyard of the Logan Heights home he lost to an alleged foreclosure fraud scheme. (Peggy Peattie / Union-Tribune)

DANGER SIGNALS

The San Diego County District Attorney's Office offers several tips to protect homeowners from potential real estate fraud. They are:

Avoid doing business with individuals or companies that call themselves mortgage or foreclosure consultants without thoroughly researching their credentials. And do not pay money up front for foreclosure and loan-modification assistance that you can either do yourself or you can get for free by going to a nonprofit certified by the federal housing department.

Be wary of promises like “We'll save your credit,” “We'll pay the closing costs,” or “If you sign the house over to us, the foreclosure will be recorded against us.”

Be extremely cautious of those who contact or advertise to people whose homes are listed for foreclosure. That includes anyone who sends flyers or solicits door to door.

Do not sign a quitclaim deed or any other document that transfers the property to another person or trust without first consulting an independent attorney.

Never make verbal agreements. Never sign blank pages where information can be added later. Never sign anything you do not understand.

Never sign a contract or other documents under pressure. Be especially wary of offers to take over ownership of your home as part of a deal that allows you to rent your home and then buy it back after a few years.

Eight months have passed since Francisco Lynch and his family were evicted from the modest two-bedroom home they purchased six years ago, yet their attachment to the home endures. On occasion, they'll drive by to check on the vacant house, where trash is piling up in the yard and the grass has turned brown.

Lynch admits he made a costly mistake when he turned in desperation to a program that promised to save his home from foreclosure by placing it in a federal “land grant.” Instead, he says, he was duped into forking over $10,000 in cash and the deed to the home he bought for $264,000.

His only solace, Lynch says, is that the operators of the foreclosure-rescue scheme are now awaiting trial after being indicted earlier this year by a grand jury on more than 150 felony counts that ensnared some 400 homeowners.

Residential real estate in San Diego County may have lost nearly half its value in the current downturn, but that hasn't stopped clever opportunists from finding ways to part distressed homeowners like Lynch from their money and their property.

Local law enforcement agencies are especially busy these days investigating growing volumes of complaints alleging fraud. The District Attorney's Office, FBI and California attorney general all have investigators and prosecutors dedicated to real estate-related fraud.

Boom or bust, real estate is ripe fodder for scams, be it skimming equity from the homes of unsuspecting owners or charging bogus fees for promising to rescue cash-strapped borrowers from foreclosure.

“It was a big lesson for me because I was the one who most wanted to do it. My wife had doubts,” said Lynch, a golf club builder whose family of four currently rents a small two-bedroom house in Logan Heights. “You know what, I don't trust nobody no more.”